Dungannon firm to create 209 new jobs

Gemma Murray

Enterprise, Trade and Investment Minister Arlene Foster has announced that Dunbia Northern Ireland is to create 209 new jobs in Dungannon - over the next three years.

Dunbia NI’s Dungannon facility employs almost 1,000 people in the procurement, slaughter and de-boning of cattle and sheep, as well as wholesale distribution and retail packing of beef and lamb.

A £27million capital investment by the company will create an intelligent boning hall and upgrade production lines to increase output and support export growth.

Announcing the investment, Arlene Foster said: “Dunbia is investing in innovative technology and production processes to enable it to maximise the return on its resources and remain cost-competitive.

“The new boning hall will help the company achieve improved butchery efficiencies and economies of scale, while the installation of new production lines using the most modern automated retail butchery will increase retail packing efficiencies.

“As a result of the anticipated increased output, the company will need to implement further shifts and will be creating 209 jobs to meet this requirement. The new jobs will generate annual salaries of £3.4million.”

Dunbia NI is part of the Dunbia Group which employs around 4,000 people over 13 sites.

Jim Dobson, Managing Director of Dunbia Group, said: “Innovation has been at the heart of Dunbia’s success and this investment in new production technology will create a centre of excellence for beef deboning.

“It will help us to maintain our position as a leading meat processor in the UK and Ireland and to deliver on our growth strategy over the next three to five years.

“Invest NI’s support, and its ongoing advice, were important factors in our decision to make this investment at our Dungannon facility.”